Risks and Returns: Wall Street Titan Wilbur Ross Pens New Memoir

We all know of Wilbur Ross as the Wall Street titan dubbed the “King of Bankruptcy” who also served as the commerce secretary in the Donald J. Trump presidential administration. Ross is married to the socialite and author Hilary Geary Ross; they live between their perfectly decorated homes in New York City, Southampton and Palm Beach.

After an illustrious career spanning five decades, Ross has written a memoir, Risks and Returns: Creating Success in Business and Life. The book is full of surprises. While he talks about how he became successful in business and politics, mixing with tycoons like Warren Buffett, Carl Icahn and the Rothschilds, some details of his personal life – hanging out with King Charles and potluck dinners at the Dakota with John Lennon and Yoko Ono – are revelations.

Ross got to know the now King Charles of Britain well before entering politics, through his support of The Prince of Wales’s Foundation (now called The King’s Foundation).

“Because of that foundation, I was spending a lot of time in London, and as a result, got to know other people in the royal family and some of the big entertainers. You’ll see some of those stories in the book,” Ross says.

King Charles’s Favorite Bawdy Entertainer

As straight-laced as Prince Charles and Camilla seemed, Ross says, there was one very bawdy, foul-mouthed entertainer that they loved, inviting her to perform every year at their charity event. “That was a very interesting aspect, adding a dimension to him,” Ross says. Alas, Ross would not reveal the entertainer’s name; you’ll have to read the book to find out. Spoiler Alert: it was Joan Rivers.

Life in the Dakota with John, Yoko and “Betty” Bacall

Ross lived for 20 years at the Dakota, the Central Park West apartment building known for its artsy residents like Lennon, Leonard Bernstein, Roberta Flack and Lauren Bacall. “I was an anomaly because it was not a big hangout for Wall Street people, but I found it fascinating,” he says.

Did he meet Bacall, a resident for more than 50 years? “Yes, but we knew her by her real name, which was Betty,” he says.

The Dakota, he says, functioned like a small village. On the first Wednesday of every October, they had a potluck party in the outdoor courtyard, with each family bringing their favorite dish. John and Yoko brought macrobiotic food. “Here you had all these sophisticated and, in some cases, very famous people at what amounted to a little country fair. And they all participated,” he says.

Christmas Carols with the Maestro

In another Dakota custom, at Christmastime each year a Brooklyn children’s choir sang carols, and then all the residents plus the kids would go to Bernstein’s apartment for more caroling with the maestro playing musical accompaniment.  “Imagine these kids, generally early teens, getting to sing in the apartment of Leonard Bernstein to his music. It was an experience that those children will never forget, but it was another example of the spirit in the Dakota,“ Ross says.

Lennon Assassination

Ross was the co-op’s board president in 1980 when Lennon was assassinated there. The building was besieged day and night by thousands of people mourning the icon.

“Eventually, we thought we needed some sort of a cathartic event to signal to the mourners that it was time to go home,” Ross says. They recruited Ono’s friend David Geffen, the music mogul, who convinced her to hold a ceremony in Strawberry Fields in Central Park, a spot John loved. “Though she was grief-stricken — they were a very, very close couple — to help the building out and to have this cathartic event, she agreed to do it. And it cleared out the crowd.”

It was, he says, an extraordinary experience to go through, especially as a board member. Ross was amazed to see such famous people joining in with their neighbors, showing their warmth and humanity. “It made it very nice because in most New York buildings, if you ride on the elevator with someone, they don’t even look at you, let alone talk to you. But there, there was a very communal feeling and a real feeling of belonging,” he says.

Risks and Returns: Creating Success in Business and Life (368 pages, Sept. 10, 2024) is published by Regnery.

Todd Shapiro is an award-winning publicist and associate publisher of Dan’s Papers.